Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Registered by 
GoryDetails
of Nashua, New Hampshire USA on 7/23/2007
This Book is Currently in the Wild!
GoryDetails of Nashua, New Hampshire USA on 7/23/2007 This Book is Currently in the Wild!
1 journaler for this copy...
I bought my copy at the midnight Harry Potter bash at Barnes and Noble, after a mere couple of hours in line. I got hooked on the series at about the time that Chamber of Secrets came out, and am still very fond of the Potter universe, although I did think that the fifth and sixth books were showing signs of bloating. Couldn't resist nabbing the last book at the earliest opportunity, though, and I immediately dashed home and read the final chapters just so I'd know what happened! After that I figured I could relax and read the book without sweating it too much - and, as of the first third or so, I'm finding it much more enjoyable than the last couple of books. That may be due to the reunions with old friends - or just that much of the action is set at the Weasleys' house, which I always enjoy - so I'll have to see how I feel about it once the plots and counterplots kick in...
Later: Definitely some mixed feelings here. I was impressed by the opening quotes from Aeschylus and William Penn - you don't see that in fantasy-for-kids that often! - and I was also pleased to see Harry thinking about somebody other than himself for a change; guess he is growing up, isn't he? But I don't think Rowling handles the more complex, more grown-up plots and characters as well as she did the earlier, more whimsical settings and people. Even though this is the climax of the series, I found that my mind kept wandering during much of the story, wondering when something was going to happen. The Harry-in-the-woods sequence seemed to go on way too long, and some of the driving sub-plots here just made me giggle, especially the "get a better wand" aspects. Wand envy, anyone?
I realize that lots of Potter fans have enjoyed the darker, more complex plots in the last few books, and they'll probably love this one too, but when I wasn't getting a bit bored I was spotting plotholes, and thinking how much more interesting it would have been if some of the tougher situations were resolved by something other than "Dobby ex machina" or equivalent. [Minor spoiler: I was very disappointed in Wormtail's end; I had thought that his silver hand meant some confrontation with, oh, I dunno, a werewolf at some point? I suppose one could consider it a good thing that Rowling didn't take that route, but given the tight bonds of the four Marauders in the past, I missed at least some kind of confrontation between the survivors at the end.]
Come to think of it, Wormtail's end was only one of many disappointing deaths in this book. Not in the sense that I didn't want this one or that one to die - that's a given, but it's also a given that somebody near and dear had to perish to signify how dangerous the situation was. But so many of them died offstage, most without even much of a secondhand account of their final stand, that I really felt cheated; I'd hoped for some last words from one or two, or that somebody would get to throw himself in front of Harry at the last minute, something like that. Heck, even Sn- er, um, even the death of one of the key characters of the entire series was a letdown for me; it seemed too quick and low-key. [I also found the whole complication of who killed whom and thus who really "owned" the wonder-gadget to be a bit much, especially as I wasn't entirely sure that the facts matched the resolution.]
I also confess to an ongoing dislike of the Pensieve. At first I liked the idea, especially with the punny name, but it rapidly turned into one of those too-powerful plot elements that can unbalance the story, like the holodeck in the "Star Trek" movies. And since it seems to have been created to make up for the limitations of a story that's told entirely from Harry's point of view; this way, the Pensieve flashbacks can be shown to Harry and the reader at the same time, and all that's needed is some explanation for how the thoughts got into the sieve in the first place. Some of the time this made sense, but there were episodes where I felt it was a hand-wave - "Oh, Dumbledore managed it somehow". [I also found it too simplistic in its third-person view of events; most people's memories do not include themselves in the picture. It would have been a lot more fun for the reader (and challenging for the person using the sieve) if the viewer had to experience events from inside the head of the person whose memories were on record.]
Am I nitpicking too much, especially considering that the Potter saga was meant for kids? Maybe. Some of my quibbles have more to do with personal preference than objective criticism. But I did love the world Rowling created, and hoped for more from this book. I'm reasonably happy with the way things turned out for most of the characters, and since I knew I wasn't going to get the ending I really wanted for two of them [I still think Snape and Lupin were made for each other!] I wasn't too saddened by most of the deaths. But it could have been so much better!
***
Since I've registered at least one copy of each of the books by now, here's the full series, with my comments to date:
Sorcerer's Stone
Chamber of Secrets
Prisoner of Azkaban [my favorite of the series!]
Goblet of Fire
Order of the Phoenix
Half-blood Prince
Deathly Hallows
Later: Definitely some mixed feelings here. I was impressed by the opening quotes from Aeschylus and William Penn - you don't see that in fantasy-for-kids that often! - and I was also pleased to see Harry thinking about somebody other than himself for a change; guess he is growing up, isn't he? But I don't think Rowling handles the more complex, more grown-up plots and characters as well as she did the earlier, more whimsical settings and people. Even though this is the climax of the series, I found that my mind kept wandering during much of the story, wondering when something was going to happen. The Harry-in-the-woods sequence seemed to go on way too long, and some of the driving sub-plots here just made me giggle, especially the "get a better wand" aspects. Wand envy, anyone?
I realize that lots of Potter fans have enjoyed the darker, more complex plots in the last few books, and they'll probably love this one too, but when I wasn't getting a bit bored I was spotting plotholes, and thinking how much more interesting it would have been if some of the tougher situations were resolved by something other than "Dobby ex machina" or equivalent. [Minor spoiler: I was very disappointed in Wormtail's end; I had thought that his silver hand meant some confrontation with, oh, I dunno, a werewolf at some point? I suppose one could consider it a good thing that Rowling didn't take that route, but given the tight bonds of the four Marauders in the past, I missed at least some kind of confrontation between the survivors at the end.]
Come to think of it, Wormtail's end was only one of many disappointing deaths in this book. Not in the sense that I didn't want this one or that one to die - that's a given, but it's also a given that somebody near and dear had to perish to signify how dangerous the situation was. But so many of them died offstage, most without even much of a secondhand account of their final stand, that I really felt cheated; I'd hoped for some last words from one or two, or that somebody would get to throw himself in front of Harry at the last minute, something like that. Heck, even Sn- er, um, even the death of one of the key characters of the entire series was a letdown for me; it seemed too quick and low-key. [I also found the whole complication of who killed whom and thus who really "owned" the wonder-gadget to be a bit much, especially as I wasn't entirely sure that the facts matched the resolution.]
I also confess to an ongoing dislike of the Pensieve. At first I liked the idea, especially with the punny name, but it rapidly turned into one of those too-powerful plot elements that can unbalance the story, like the holodeck in the "Star Trek" movies. And since it seems to have been created to make up for the limitations of a story that's told entirely from Harry's point of view; this way, the Pensieve flashbacks can be shown to Harry and the reader at the same time, and all that's needed is some explanation for how the thoughts got into the sieve in the first place. Some of the time this made sense, but there were episodes where I felt it was a hand-wave - "Oh, Dumbledore managed it somehow". [I also found it too simplistic in its third-person view of events; most people's memories do not include themselves in the picture. It would have been a lot more fun for the reader (and challenging for the person using the sieve) if the viewer had to experience events from inside the head of the person whose memories were on record.]
Am I nitpicking too much, especially considering that the Potter saga was meant for kids? Maybe. Some of my quibbles have more to do with personal preference than objective criticism. But I did love the world Rowling created, and hoped for more from this book. I'm reasonably happy with the way things turned out for most of the characters, and since I knew I wasn't going to get the ending I really wanted for two of them [I still think Snape and Lupin were made for each other!] I wasn't too saddened by most of the deaths. But it could have been so much better!
***
Since I've registered at least one copy of each of the books by now, here's the full series, with my comments to date:
Sorcerer's Stone
Chamber of Secrets
Prisoner of Azkaban [my favorite of the series!]
Goblet of Fire
Order of the Phoenix
Half-blood Prince
Deathly Hallows
RELEASE NOTES:
I plan to leave this book somewhere in or near the entrance to the Girls Inc center on Burke Street at about 12:30. Hope the finder enjoys it!
Later: I wound up chatting with the person at the desk, explained BookCrossing and offered the book to her to use as she thought best. So this is only a semi-wild book that may end up in the hands of a member of the club!
I plan to leave this book somewhere in or near the entrance to the Girls Inc center on Burke Street at about 12:30. Hope the finder enjoys it!
Later: I wound up chatting with the person at the desk, explained BookCrossing and offered the book to her to use as she thought best. So this is only a semi-wild book that may end up in the hands of a member of the club!
